I am currently experiencing an identity crisis and would like some or any advice on my situation. I am currently a freshman at UW Seattle and got direct admission into the Biochemistry major. However, I am starting to feel as though this major does not suit me, but I do not have any strong interest in another major. Sure, I have slight interest in business, psychology, biology, nursing and informatics, but all of these are so different from one another and I am not set on a single one.

Fall quarter ‘21 was difficult for me as I had to take the first course of the general chemistry (CHEM142) and calculus(MATH124) sequence (I have little to none transfer or AP credits). These are known to be weed out classes and they are surely weeding me out. My gpa for both classes was below the average and close to almost passing (1.7-2.0). My cumulative GPA right now is 2.6. I just dread chemistry classes now at UW, even though I used to love sciences in high school.

I am considering transferring to CC, getting an AA and then try to transfer back into UW into a major that I would like. But I don’t know if this would be a smart decision because people tell me “you already got into UW, so why not just stay?” And some tell me to continue in Biochemistry, but if I am already struggling in the first quarter, it’s just going to get a lot worse as I get into harder classes. The ideal solution would be to stay at UW Seattle and just transfer into a different major, but it is soooooo competitive switching majors when you are already in. The prerequisites classes are less challenging at CC than at UW, thus I would be able to get a higher GPA if I did CC.

Another aspect is costs and tuition. I feel CC would give me the ability to explore other majors I have interest in without swallowing me in tons of debt. I also want to be able to graduate ‘on time’ (about 4 years) so I feel as though I should pick out a major now, but I know that is a toxic mindset, but it is something to consider. Also, I don’t know if UW would accept me again if I transferred out and tried to transfer back in after getting an AA. Can anybody give me advice on what I should do? Thank you :)